Following his resignation as head coach of Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila FC (TTM) last week, Mr Johnny Ferreira revealed the reason that propelled him to say goodbye to the club. Ferreira cited the club's financial position as the only factor that had forced him to terminate his relationship with the Tshakhuma side with immediate effect.
During an interview with the 65-year-old mentor, he said that working at TTM had been pretty good in the first two months after his appointment to the position of head coach in the beginning of July. According to him, the club's financial problems only started two months ago. He said that he had received his salary the past two months in bits and pieces.
Ferreira said that the club's financial constraints had affected the team's performance to a large extent as the players had not received their salaries in time, while others had only been paid a fraction of their salaries. That resulted in the team's losing four league games in succession. Their last victory was against Cape Town Spurs, whom they had beaten 1-0.
The former Venda Football Academy head coach said that for him to tell the players to give their best on the field under those circumstances had been difficult. Honouring most of his financial commitments as a family man over the past two months because of the financial position of the club had also been a strain.
The president of TTM, Mr Masala Mulaudzi, confirmed this week that the club was indeed experiencing some financial constraints.
Unlike many other coaches who battle to find a new job after they had parted ways with their employers, Ferreira took only a week to find a new coaching job. He is now the new head coach of Black Leopards.
According to the chairman of the club, Mr David Thidiela, Mr Ferreira's contract with the club will expire at the end of the current season. Thidiela said that the Zimbabwean mentor, Mr Rodwell Dhlakama, would continue to work as a senior coach for the team, the position which he had been holding while Mr Joel Masutha was still the head coach of Lidoda duvha. Mr Masutha has since joined Venda Football Academy as an assistant coach.